Common socket, long cable or a neighbour's point: when EV charging becomes 'unauthorised use of electricity'

Charging your EV from your society's common supply is not automatically theft. Theft of electricity under section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003 needs dishonesty. A different provision, section 126, covers "unauthorised use of electricity", which needs none: electricity used for a purpose, or on premises, other than those for which the supply was authorised. That is a civil assessment at twice the tariff, made by an officer the State Government designates, never by your committee. Whether a common socket, a cable from your flat's meter, a neighbour's point or a society charger crosses either line depends on what your licensee authorised, and outside one Karnataka case the texts leave it unsettled. This is not legal advice.

The four arrangements, side by side

Each row is tested against the two limbs of section 126 quoted in the next section. "Unsettled" means the texts we read do not decide the point; it does not mean safe, and it does not mean unlawful.

One route puts both questions in the licensee's hands for every row: a separate connection for EV charging. Rule 4(15) of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, inserted by the Ministry of Power's Amendment Rules, 2024 (G.S.R. 125(E), 22 February 2024), says "the distribution licensee shall provide a separate connection" for EV charging on request of an association, a flat owner "or any other consumer" (Gazette of India copy, egazette.gov.in, last verified 16 October 2026). Its purpose and premises are whatever the licensee sanctions. Whether it suits your bill is the question in own meter, sub-meter or common meter.

The two statutory tests: wrong purpose and wrong premises

Explanation (b) to section 126 defines "unauthorised use of electricity" as usage "(i) by any artificial means; or (ii) by a means not authorised by the concerned person or authority or licensee; or (iii) through a tampered meter; or (iv) for the purpose other than for which the usage of electricity was authorised; or (v) for the premises or areas other than those for which the supply of electricity was authorized." Limbs (iv) and (v) are the ones a parking-bay arrangement engages first; limb (ii) returns in Arrangement 3.

We quote the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's consolidated text, archived on 3 October 2026 (Electricity Act, 2003, consolidated, web.archive.org, last verified 16 October 2026); it is a consolidation, not the Gazette. Three features matter to a resident:

• There is no mental element. Nothing in the definition requires dishonesty. An arrangement made openly, with the committee's blessing, can still fall within limb (iv) or (v).
• Both limbs turn on what was "authorised". The Explanation does not say by whom or in what document. The natural place to look is the terms on which your licensee sanctioned the connection: its tariff category, the premises in the application, your state's supply code. Neither a committee resolution nor a Ministry guideline is, on its face, the licensee's authorisation.
• The person assessed need not be the consumer. Sub-section (1) lets the officer assess "the electricity charges payable by such person or by any other person benefited by such use", and sub-section (2) serves the order on "the person in occupation or possession or in charge of the place or premises".

If unauthorised use is found, sub-section (5) says the assessment "shall be made for the entire period during which such unauthorized use of electricity has taken place", and only if that period "cannot be ascertained" is it "limited to a period of twelve months immediately preceding the date of inspection". Sub-section (6) sets the rate: "twice the tariff rates applicable for the relevant category of services". The twelve months is a fallback, not a cap.

Unauthorised use and theft are different things

Section 135(1) opens "Whoever, dishonestly," and lists five acts. Four concern lines and meters: tapping a licensee's lines, tampering or bypassing a meter, damaging one, or using a tampered one. The fifth, clause (e), is whoever "uses electricity for the purpose other than for which the usage of electricity was authorised" — the purpose test of section 126, with dishonesty added. Section 135(1) has no premises limb. The punishment is "imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or with both", with minimum fines tied to the financial gain.

The Ministry of Power's letter No. 42/2/2005-R&R of 12 November 2007, "Applicability of provisions of Section 126 and 135 of the Electricity Act 2003", sent to every state energy secretary and state commission, sets out the difference (powermin.gov.in, last verified 16 October 2026). It says "'dishonest intention' as mentioned u/s 135 is the necessary ingredient for the offence of theft of electricity", that prosecution needs "a complaint or a report by police to the court" under section 151, and that section 126 "would also be applicable to those cases where action is taken for offences under section 135 and the situation of alleged commitment of offence is covered under the provisions of Section 126". So the two can run side by side, but only where the facts also fit section 126.

Dishonesty is not always for the licensee to prove. A proviso to section 135(1) says that if "any artificial means or means not authorized by the Board or licensee or supplier" are proved to exist, "it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved," that the use "has been dishonestly caused by such consumer". That is why written authorisation from your licensee counts for more than good faith.

Who can allege it: an assessing officer, not a committee

Explanation (a) to section 126 defines the assessing officer as "an officer of a State Government or Board or licensee, as the case may be, designated as such by the State Government". The search powers in section 135(2) belong to an officer of the licensee "authorized in this behalf by the State Government". Section 151 lets a court take cognizance of an offence only on a written complaint by the government, the commission, their authorised officers, an Electrical Inspector, the licensee or a generating company, or on a police report. A housing society's committee is on none of these lists.

So a committee cannot find that a member stole electricity or make a section 126 assessment; it can tell the licensee or the police what it has seen. A fine a society levies under its own bye-laws is a separate question, and calling it a section 126 or 135 penalty does not make it one.

If "theft" is the reason given for refusing your charger, ask which limb of which section is meant, and offer the paperwork that answers it (see common objections). The reverse also holds: a committee that runs a socket or charger without the licensee's sanction is not protected by having approved it itself, and the society, as the person in charge of the premises, may be the party served.

Arrangement 1: your flat's meter extended to your bay

A cable leaves your own meter, crosses common areas and ends at your bay; every unit is billed to you. On the purpose limb, the Ministry of Power's "Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure-2024", dated 17 September 2024, say in clause 15(2) that "Owners can use their existing electricity connection to charge their EVs at home" and in 15(4) that "Domestic electricity rates will apply to charging EVs at home" (the Bureau of Energy Efficiency's copy, last verified 16 October 2026). Clause 16(5) adds that for private points in designated parking "The Distribution Licensee will ensure electricity supply through the resident's existing meter or a separate sub-meter depending on consumer's choice."

Those clauses point towards charging as a permitted use of a domestic connection, but they are Ministry guidelines addressed to central ministries and state chief secretaries, not your state's supply code or tariff order (the guidelines clause by clause). The premises limb is the open one. Your connection was sanctioned for your flat; your bay may be common property, an allotted slot or a slot you bought. Clause 16(5) comes closest, since it envisages the resident's existing meter supplying a point in a designated parking space, but it does not amend the premises recorded on your connection. Whether the bay falls within "the premises or areas ... for which the supply of electricity was authorized" is not decided by any national text we read.

Karnataka's regulator addresses it for one group, without mentioning section 126. The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission's order of 30 July 2024, "Streamlining of Procedure for installation of EV (Electric Vehicle) Charging Units", says in clause (v) that flat owners "who are allocated a specific parking space in Multi-storeyed buildings/Complexes" may connect charging units within their sanctioned load, or enhance it with the licensee's approval, "under the existing installation category tariff", and that "The appropriate wiring/cabling shall be extended from the Metering Panel to where the charging stations/points are located complying with the CEA safety standards/Regulations" (signed copy published by HESCOM, a state-owned licensee, last verified 16 October 2026). Without an allocated space, residents "have to use the EV charging stations /points in the identified common areas within the premises" (no allotted slot). Whom the order binds is set out in what is actually settled.

Elsewhere this row is unsettled: put the question to your licensee in the letter described below, and have the charger recorded in your connected load (sanctioned load).

One point is not ambiguous: the cable must start on the outgoing side of your own meter. Anything that draws current before the meter is a different matter: section 135(1)(a) and (b) describe connections to a licensee's service wires and loop connections, and the presumption proviso may then put the burden of disproving dishonesty on you. The route, cable size, protection and earthing must be specified and certified by a licensed electrician, and crossing common areas needs your society's permission (cable routing options; requesting permission).

Arrangement 2: the society's common-area socket

A common-area connection belongs to the society, which is the consumer; what it was sanctioned for is in the society's application and the category on its bill. Whether charging one resident's car is a purpose for which it was authorised, no national text we read says. Rule 4(14)(b) of the same Rules, inserted by the same 2024 amendment, says that within an association's area "the metering, billing, and collection shall be done separately for" "(i) individual electricity consumption sourced from the distribution licensee", backup power, and "(iii) electricity consumption for common area of such Association sourced from the distribution licensee". The rule does not call mixing them unauthorised use, and it does not say whether a car charged on the common supply is "individual" or "common area" consumption; a resident's car recorded only on the common-area meter at least sits awkwardly with the separation it describes. Whether a society's own sub-meter satisfies it is a question for the licensee.

In Karnataka the order gives a route. Clause (iii) says consumers, owners or associations installing points "in the identified common areas" of existing or new buildings not covered by clause (ii) "need to obtain sanction from the concerned Distribution Licensee", and clause (iv) then permits them to be connected "in the existing installations within the sanctioned load" "at the tariff applicable to respective existing installations' category tariff". A socket used with that sanction is inside the route; one without it is outside, and the order does not say what follows.

Besides the society as the person in charge, each resident who charged can be assessed as "any other person benefited", and a committee resolution protects neither. Get the licensee's written position before the first car plugs in; the rota, logbook and lock are in using the existing parking socket as an interim point, and whether non-EV members bear any cost is in the cost-isolation worksheet.

Arrangement 3: a neighbour's socket

The supply here is your neighbour's, sanctioned for their flat.

• Without your neighbour's consent: stop. That is taking their electricity.
• With consent: your neighbour is the consumer, so any section 126 question is about their supply. On purpose, clause 15(2) speaks of owners charging "their EVs at home", and nothing we read addresses a domestic supply charging someone else's car. On premises, limb (v) is engaged if the cable runs to your bay rather than theirs. Either way, you are the "other person benefited".

Limb (ii) adds a further doubt: use "by a means not authorised by the concerned person or authority or licensee". Your neighbour's consent may answer the "concerned person"; the text does not say whose authorisation is enough when the licensee has not been asked. This row is unsettled, and the fix is the same as in Arrangement 1: your own point on your own meter, or a separate EV connection.

If money changes hands, write down what it is for: reimbursing the rate on their bill is not the same as buying charging, which this page does not cover.

Arrangement 4: a society charger on common or single-point supply

The supply behind a society-owned charger is either the society's common-area connection, in a building where flats have their own meters, or a single-point connection, where the association takes one bulk supply and distributes it to the flats.

Clause 16(2) of the guidelines says "In consultation with the distribution licensee, Residential Welfare Associations (Society) can establish EV charging stations within their premises". Clause 4(e) defines a community charging station as one at a group housing society "where only residents or authorized visitors can get their EV charged", and clause 9(3) says "Each EV charging station must have separate metering arrangements to accurately record consumption and apply the appropriate tariff." Clause 5(1) states that "Setting up and operation of EV Charging Stations is a de-licensed activity". Whether that answers a separate worry, that a society running a charger needs a licence to distribute electricity under section 12 of the Act, is unsettled.

On a common-area connection the purpose question is the one in Arrangement 2, with a charger in place of a socket: rule 4(14)(b)'s separation, and in Karnataka the sanction route in clauses (iii) and (iv). A written sanction from the licensee for that use is the most direct evidence of the authorisation limb (iv) asks about.

On a single-point connection the bulk supply is the association's. Rule 4(14)(b) requires individual and common-area consumption to be metered separately but does not say which a resident's session on a society charger is; that is unsettled. How the association bills it is outside this page. The exposure can attach to the association as consumer and, through "any other person benefited", to each user. Before you pay per unit, ask the committee for the licensee's written sanction or consultation record.

What an assessment could cost, on your own numbers

Section 126(1) lets the officer assess "to the best of his judgement", so the units in an order may come from a method your state prescribes rather than from your logbook; ask for the working. Every figure below is an assumption chosen to show the working; substitute your own. The method follows calculating your monthly charging cost.

• Suppose you drive 800 km a month and your display shows 6 km per unit. Units into the battery = 800 ÷ 6 = 133.3. Suppose also that 90 per cent of what the socket supplies reaches the battery: units off the wall = 133.3 ÷ 0.9 = about 148 a month.
• Suppose the tariff the officer treats as relevant is ₹8 a unit; use the rate for that category on your own bill or your licensee's tariff schedule.
• If your logbook shows the arrangement ran 7 months: 148 × 7 = 1,036 units, and 1,036 × 8 × 2 = ₹16,576.
• If the period cannot be ascertained, the twelve-month fallback applies: 148 × 12 = 1,776 units, and 1,776 × 8 × 2 = ₹28,416.
• If records show it ran 20 months: 148 × 20 × 8 × 2 = ₹47,360.
• If the officer applies a different category, suppose ₹11 a unit: 1,776 × 11 × 2 = ₹39,072.

To appeal the ₹28,416 example you must first deposit half: 28,416 ÷ 2 = ₹14,208. If you default, section 127(6) interest at sixteen per cent a year, compounded six-monthly, adds 28,416 × 0.08 = about ₹2,273 for the first six months, and 28,416 × 1.08 × 1.08 − 28,416 = about ₹4,728 for a year.

Records cut both ways: a logbook can shorten the period and fix the units, or prove a long one. Section 126 does not say whether units already billed through a meter, such as the society's common-area bill, are credited, nor which category is "relevant" in a mixed case. Both are points for your objection.

If a DISCOM alleges unauthorised use: assessment, objection and appeal

The consolidated copy's footnote records that a proviso was omitted with effect from 15 June 2007 which had said a person who deposits the assessed amount "shall not be subjected to any further liability", so paying under sub-section (4) no longer carries that protection. Under section 127(5) "No appeal shall lie" against a final order "made with the consent of the parties", so do not agree to a figure at the hearing unless you accept it. Under section 127(4) the appellate order "shall be final", and section 145 bars civil courts from any matter an assessing officer or appellate authority is empowered to decide. Whether any further remedy exists after the appeal is a question for your advocate.

A consumer commission is not the route either. In U.P. Power Corporation Ltd. v. Anis Ahmad, Civil Appeal No. 5466 of 2012, decided on 1 July 2013, the Supreme Court held that a complaint "against the assessment made by assessing officer under Section 126" or against offences under sections 135 to 140 "is not maintainable before a Consumer Forum" (indiankanoon.org, last verified 16 October 2026). It was decided under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, since replaced; we have not checked whether any later ruling revisits it.

If theft is alleged instead, the track is criminal: disconnection and a police complaint "within twenty four hours" under section 135(1A), trial by the Special Court, and compounding under section 152 "only once for any person or consumer". At that point you need an advocate, not this page.

What to have in writing before anyone asks

Assemble the file before you plug in, not after an inspection, and keep it with your charger paperwork.

1. A letter to your licensee. Give your connection number, sanctioned load and category; describe the arrangement and where the bay is; and ask three questions: may the supply be used there for EV charging, at which category, and does the charger need a load revision or a separate connection?
2. The licensed electrician's completion note. Route, cable, protection, earthing and the measured load, signed.
3. Sub-meter readings and a logbook. They fix the units and the period if anyone later has to estimate them.
4. The society's written permission or resolution. It answers the committee, not the licensee, so keep both.

For a society, the file is the licensee's sanction for the socket or charger, the separate metering and the monthly readings.

Common questions

Is charging my EV from the society's common electricity theft?

Not by itself. Theft under section 135 requires dishonesty, which the Ministry of Power's 2007 letter calls its "necessary ingredient". It can still be unauthorised use under section 126 if the common supply was not authorised for that purpose, which stays unsettled unless your licensee sanctions the arrangement in writing.

Can my society fine me or file a theft case for charging from a common point?

It cannot make a section 126 assessment or decide that you committed theft; those belong to a State-designated officer and a Special Court. It is not on section 151's list of complainants, but it can report to the licensee or the police, and a police report can start a prosecution. A fine under its bye-laws is not an Electricity Act penalty.

Can I run a cable from my flat's meter to my parking slot?

In Karnataka, with an allocated slot, clause (v) of the 30 July 2024 order provides for wiring extended from the metering panel to your charging point. Elsewhere the premises question is unsettled, so ask your licensee to confirm in writing. Either way the cable must start after your meter, the work must be specified and certified by a licensed electrician, and the route needs your society's permission.

Do domestic rates apply to EV charging at home?

Clause 15(4) of the 2024 guidelines says "Domestic electricity rates will apply to charging EVs at home", and Karnataka's order says "under the existing installation category tariff". Your bill follows your state's tariff order, so check the category printed on it.

Does paying the provisional assessment end the matter?

Not necessarily. The proviso that once said a deposit ended "any further liability" was omitted in 2007, and the Ministry of Power's 2007 letter says section 126 can also apply alongside theft proceedings where the facts fit it. Take an advocate's advice before paying or consenting to a figure.

Can I go to the consumer forum against a section 126 assessment?

Not according to Anis Ahmad, decided under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The route is a written objection to the assessing officer, then a section 127 appeal within thirty days of the final order, with half the assessed amount deposited first.